At the end of the ninth day of the 2024 Olympics, the United States leads the total medal count with 71, and is tied with China for the lead in the gold medal count with 19. However, with a population of more than 330 million people, the U.S. does not come close to having the most medals per capita based on overall population.
Based on data provided by medalspercapita.com, the United States earns an Olympic medal for every 4,662,009.17 million people, ranking 34th in the world in Olympic medals per capita.
Statistically, an American is more likely to be struck by lightning (one per 1,222,000 million people) than winning an Olympic medal.
However, in some countries, winning an Olympic medal is a whole lot more common.
Which countries have the most medals per capita? The least? Let's take a closer look:
What country has won the most medals per capita at the 2024 Olympics?
The small Caribbean country of Dominica has the most medals per capita for the 2024 Olympics so far, with one medal per 71,986 people, followed by Grenada with one medal per 112,523 people.
Coming in third is St. Lucia, another Caribbean island, with one medal per 183,627 people.
All three nations have earned just one medal in the Paris Olympics, meaning each country has a smaller population than a small city here in the U.S.
In fact, Dominica's Thea LaFond, who won gold in the women's triple jump, actually moved to Maryland as a child and attended high school and college there.
Similarly, St. Lucia's Julien Alfred, who won gold in the women's 100m, attended the University of Texas and is a three-time NCAA Division I individual champion.
What countries have the least medals per capita in the 2024 Olympics?
India, with three medals so far and a population of 1,380,004,385, has a medal per capita of one medal per 460,001,461 people.
The population-rich countries of Ethiopia (114,963,588), Philippines (109,581,078) and Egypt (102,334,404) have each earned one medal so far as well, making their medals per capita ratios all above one per 100 million people.
Interestingly, China, with a population of 1,439,323,776 people, has earned 45 medals so far, making their medals per capita one medal per 31,984,972.8 people.
What country has the most gold medals per capita?
Behind Dominica and St. Lucia, who both won one gold medal each, Ireland comes in with the most gold medals per capita.
The country known for having pots of gold at the end of the rainbow has three gold medals so far, or one gold medal per 1,645,928 people.
The United States, with 19 gold medals so far, has one gold medal per 17,421,192.1579 people.
